Aguardiente

gabolicious says on Jul 14, 2007, 12:51:

I hate aniseed things... but aguardiente...wow I love it! I think it is very soft, the problem is that I keep on drinking and I don't feel drunk ...but all of a sudden I get drunk hehehehehehehehe

Elección no canonización....

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gabolicious says on Jul 14, 2007, 12:51:

cheers by the way dear kalder

Elección no canonización....

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kalder says on Jul 14, 2007, 12:53:

Thanks old bean. I'll have one for you!

"kalder- have you ever had a woman?"--Sam Salmon

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gabolicious says on Jul 14, 2007, 12:55:

PLEASE kalder!!!! I am going to Bogota until Oct this year, 3 months!!!! pls do have one for me =).. you know what? I drink aguardiente with tajin which is powder chili... tastes SO GOOD.... LOL

Elección no canonización....

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Man Tequila says on Jul 14, 2007, 12:56:

Aguardiente is okay. I would prefer a gin and tonic or Guinness, though.

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

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kalder says on Jul 14, 2007, 13:04:

As the advert used to say- 'Guinness is good for you'.

"kalder- have you ever had a woman?"--Sam Salmon

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Atrevido says on Jul 14, 2007, 13:35:

In the fifties it was called agua ardiente.

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Lauthra says on Jul 14, 2007, 13:49:

I hate the thing as well, such a strong disgusting taste. Just the smell makes me gag, yuck :S

Nato (='.'=)

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Lowell says on Jul 14, 2007, 14:45:

reminds me of the dentists office. IE: mouthwash

Alfred E. Newman. "What. Me Worry?"

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Cerealkiller says on Jul 14, 2007, 14:56:

Kalder I share the feeling. I dont like aguardiente at all, cant drink the stuff...same thing applies to cider, definitely not my cup of tea.

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives -John Stuart Mill

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goin_south says on Jul 14, 2007, 15:26:

Kalder, ..... your environs always affect the result: If your first taste of Aguardiente was in Pasto, with your novia, on New Years Eve, and a small group of gringo-loving 14-year olds (one of her sons' friends) were smacking it down with ya at the stroke of mid-night on your very first three hours to be there IN PASTO..... then that AGUARDIENTE GETS TO HAVING A VERY.....SWEET......TASTE :)

I have a bottle in my cabinet; thinking....should I take it to Houston to the ColombiaFest, and tease those Colombians with it??? jejee... bet I can make some friends quack.... 'r... I meant quick ;)

Ciao! Gustav. Bienvenitos, Ike.

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kat1 (Moderator) says on Jul 14, 2007, 15:38:

me too kalder i hate aguardiente

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goin_south says on Jul 14, 2007, 15:52:

pleeese, Kat; h.a.t.e..... is 3/4 of 8 = 6 -2 is a 4-letter word. I h8 it 2.

Ciao! Gustav. Bienvenitos, Ike.

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chloe says on Jul 14, 2007, 18:34:

I used to like aguardiente, I would take the shot of it, not feel drunk until it just hit me, can't wait to have some more on my visit

chloe

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Gator says on Jul 14, 2007, 18:52:

Acquired taste-pick a brand and stick with it. Mine is Cristal.

"Credidi pretio parvo emere et magno vendere tibi in animo fuisse!" .

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hajenius says on Jul 14, 2007, 19:33:

Don't like it, only when i am (or starting to get) drunk. Exactly the moment not to drink it!!! But, as some of you probably know, you always have those "nice guys" at parties with a bottle and some small glasses who think you are a party pooper if you don't drink a glass with them. Always get me drunk and sorry the next day.

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Miguel_Clavo says on Jul 14, 2007, 20:11:

aguardiente is nothing compared to the jetfuel those russians drink at lunchtime.......yukkkk!!!

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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Monpirri says on Jul 14, 2007, 21:29:

MANIZALES, Colombia, 2 Sep 2003 (Associated Press)
For centuries it has fueled their binges, triggered their hangovers and supposedly cured their colds. So it has come as a shock to the producers of aguardiente, or firewater, that Colombians are starting to sour on the national drink. Hit by tax increases, shifting tastes and the competitive forces of globalization, aguardiente sales have fallen 34 percent nationwide since 1994 - from 9.9 million cases to 6.6 million.

Ever since the mid-1600s, when the king of Spain tried to ban it, aguardiente has been Colombia's beloved booze. Drunk from crystal shot glasses in wood-paneled lounges or from plastic cups in honky-tonks, aguardiente knows no class boundaries.

Colombian emigrants become downright misty-eyed when they mourn the scarcity of aguardiente in their adopted homelands. "What am I without aguardiente? I'm a nation without people, a tree without roots," a Colombian living in the United States once lamented in a now famous poem.

Andean farmworkers often carry a flask to ward off the frosty air. Step into a bar, and among the beer guzzlers and whiskey sippers you'll see people knocking back shots of the sweet anise-flavored liquor. "It's not a sipping drink. You get a table and a bottle and sit there until it's done," said Pablo Robledo of the Caldas Liquor Industry, which produces Cristal aguardiente, a best-selling brand.

Time was, you couldn't get Colombians off aguardiente. Colombia's Spanish colonial rulers banned aguardiente in 1693, fearing it led to moral decay. The colonists ignored the ban. In 1700, the Spanish crown admitted defeat, and monopolized the industry. The colonists didn't much like his majesty muscling in, and scattered rebellions erupted across the land, but the controls remained tight until Colombia won independence in 1810.

Many Colombians can sing by heart a song that is almost as sappy as the drink itself: "Give me an aguardiente, made of the sugarcane of my valleys and the anise of my mountains. Don't serve me a drink from abroad which is expensive and doesn't taste as good."

But today, aguardiente is facing competition from beer, which costs about the same; rum, which is only slightly costlier; and imported wines and spirits, which are less expensive with the easing of trade tariffs. Aguardiente is also heavily taxed. In Caldas state, about 60 percent of the price of a bottle of Cristal goes to taxes, Robledo said. The Association of Liquor Manufacturers recently warned state governors that tax increases of 33 percent in the past decade are driving prices too high, that medical and education programs financed by aguardiente levies would be jeopardized and the whole industry "could go broke."

"That would be a shame, because if aguardiente goes, the country will be losing a national symbol," said association spokeswoman Luz Maria Zapata.

Another challenge looms in the shape of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which is supposed to knock down tariff barriers. If Colombia doesn't sort out its aguardiente policy by the time the pact is comes into effect - slated for 2005 - the industry will be in even worse shape, Robledo said.

"There are a lot of threats out there," he said. "We need to pinch ourselves, or we're going to drown."

So producers are coming up with new versions.

To make aguardiente, molasses is trucked in from Colombia's sugarcane fields near the Pacific coast to the distilleries, where it is mixed with anise. Distillation converts the sugar to alcohol, with most aguardientes weighing in at about 60 proof. More sugar is then added to give aguardiente its trademark sweetness. The Caldas distillery, at the base of a thickly forested mountain outside Manizales, now makes Sugar-Free Cristal - one calorie per glass.

A billboard above Manizales' streets proclaims: "Aguardiente Cristal. No sugar. No regrets." Nectar, a top brand produced in Bogota, has a new, smoother "Blue Label" version for the upscale market. The distillery also plans to introduce a sugar-free aguardiente.

http://home.earthlink.net/~cafe.tinto/aguardiente.htm

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

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Monpirri says on Jul 14, 2007, 21:31:

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

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Monpirri says on Jul 14, 2007, 21:50:

Aguardiente has become the most popular alcoholic beverage in all of Colombia, each department or region has its own aguardiente, but Antioqueño and Nectar are the most popular among all brands.
Popular brands include (department):
• Aguardiente Antioqueño (Antioquia)
• Aguardiente Líder (Boyacá)
• Aguardiente Cristal (Caldas)
• Aguardiente Platino (Chocó)
• Aguardiente Nectar (Cundinamarca)
• Aguardiente Doble Anís (Huila)
• Aguardiente Llanero (Meta)
• Aguardiente Nariño (before: Galeras)(Nariño)
• Aguardiente Quindiano (Quindío)
• Aguardiente Superior (Santander)
• Aguardiente Tapa Roja (Tolima)
• Aguardiente Blanco (Valle del Cauca)

http://www.answers.com/topic/aguardiente-1?cat=health

Alcohol...it makes you do CRAZAY shit!

Remember, IF YOU DRINK, DO NOT DRIVE!!!

Annette Taddeo for US Congress 2008

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Miguel_Clavo says on Jul 14, 2007, 21:53:

i have only tried this one....Aguardiente Blanco (Valle del Cauca) ..anyone tried a variety of them? is the taste distinctively different?

"I would rather die living life, than to live a dying life."........ Oh, and my PM is always ON. Great Bumper Sticker: "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave"

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siouxsie says on Jul 14, 2007, 22:12:

Cristal is the best.. in my opinion. . with an orange .. better than water :)

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fugdis says on Jul 14, 2007, 22:42:

Its not so bad straight out the freezer.Its the only stuff that doesnt give me a hangover.

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Robert Jorge says on Jul 14, 2007, 23:14:

I have received hangovers that were Biblical from Aguardiente. Clavo, I have tried several - I can't tell much difference. The only brand I drank a significant quantity of, over time, was Llanero. But I have drank: Cristal, Llanero, Nectar (different variations), Blanco, and Antioqueno. A little shot every now and then doesn't bother me. The reason I associate aguardiente with hangovers, is because I only drink it when it's offered to me at special occasions, which means everybody is drinking way more than normal. Thus, hangover. I heard aguardiente "sin azucar" is less likely to produce a hangover. I tend to agree with this theory.

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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CaritadeAngel says on Jul 15, 2007, 04:35:

Kalder, aguardiente is on my Banned List.

It was the only time I was ever truly defeated by a hangover. My head felt as though someone was stapling planks of wood to it. I will never do it again. Aguardiente is in my top-five list of liquors I will never do again. It's number 4.

I never drink much these days.

But when I was an undergrad, I complied a little list.

(1) Jose Cuervas (my reasons shall remain nameless, but let's just say the largest regrets of my adult life involve this. No hangover, unless you count the emotional kind).
(2) Khoddays Indian Gin (also bottled as nail polish remover). No hangover because I never drank it. But it does the job nicely on the nails.
(3)Korean soju ( like crack, but more addictive, and much cheeper, at $1 a bottle. The only time I ever ended up on the wrong side of Korean law after J-Walking under the influence of it in-front of six cops).
(4)Tesco Superplonk, ostensibly masquarading as red wine which we drank as students because we couldnt afford anything else and didn't like beer. (I woke up and found I had enlisted in the Officer's Training Core, and sported an unmentionable tattoo etc etc. They stopped making it. I was hungover for 72 hours.
(5) Aguardiente ( makes you want to sing cheep boleros while drunk on it, and gives you the hangover from hell).

I had my first hangover for 3 years this weekend.

"I hope I never say anything worth quoting".

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Cockney Colombian says on Jul 15, 2007, 04:56:

The first time I had aguadiente, I was seven years old and had just been swimming in the river and mi Abuelo gave it to me to warm me up! Haha, and since then I've liked it.

I like cider too but that is guareenteed to give me a hangover no matter how little I drink so I stick to beer or whisky which doesn't have the same affect.

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Leeroy says on Jul 15, 2007, 08:16:

If you don't like aguardiente, how else are you supposed to celebrate a "mecha"?

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Robert Jorge says on Jul 15, 2007, 09:06:

Leeroy, an Aquila will suffice for me, for celebrating a mecha. That is funny though that you said that. The first time I was taken to a tejo park in Villavicencio, we get a 30 count container of beer. I thought this was more than enough for 4 guys. Nope, I didn't realize the Aguardiente was required. Every mecha, a round of shots. And of course me being a gringo among a group of llaneros, I was targeted constantly with extra offered shots.

--"I believe in making the world safe for our children. But not for our children's children, because I don't think that children should be having sex." - Jack Handy

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dwmte7 says on Jul 15, 2007, 17:40:

i'm (was) with you kalder...the stuff sucks...that is until you get used to it. took me 15 yrs. but finally i gave in and know why they drink it. you'll never get close to local brothers unless you learn to guzzle guaro. good luck.

dw

dwmte

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Conchale Vale!! says on Jul 15, 2007, 19:00:

I will take the cristal please. Everyone I know is so hot for Nector sin azucar or nector lite. Wow that is tuff going down but cristal..like water that's the problem. I guess the idea is the guyaba the next day is less with the sin azucar tastes terrible to me. Anyway there is no better way to have a despechado then to wake up the next day after downing a bottle of cristal. You'll swear off women for 10 years!!!

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dwmte7 says on Jul 17, 2007, 06:57:

my experience around antioquia,is that if you ask for anything other than the local guaro
ie liquores de antioquia..they think your a snob/prick/wierd/whatever. in drinking with the locals over the past 18 years, i never once drank anything but aguardiente de antioquia. for sure, i've drank other brands here in the u.s., but never with my homies back home in medallo and it's surrounds.

they develop a capacity to drink it like water. like the arabs and their arak. i have developed the ability to drink it out of socialization, but not out of desire. it the friends are drinking the drek, i'll join. but it's rare to go anywhere and order a shot...real rare. rather drink an ice cold pina colada/ron con cola/genebra y tonica. listo.

dw

dwmte

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billyb says on Jul 17, 2007, 14:17:

Love aguardiente. You can get aguardiente lite and it gives you less of a hangover.

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aztec says on Jul 19, 2007, 04:40:

Got sick on the stuff in Cali and now every time I smell it I get nauseas! Probably the only alcohol in Colombia that I can't drink. OK, maybe I can have one or two shots of Aguardiente but only to be social.

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kalder says on Jul 19, 2007, 04:45:

Yes, I can force myself to knock back one or two when manners oblige. But no more.
I've even gone off my beloved rum, after doing far too much of it on a lost night in Valle del Cauca.

"kalder- have you ever had a woman?"--Sam Salmon

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